Hello Athletes and Warriors!
We are built for success inside and out. I have heard from many a successful entrepreneurs that they apply "Fitness Principles" to their business plans for max success. That means they devise a comprehensive plan, develop a non-negotiable start date, and then Go! Growing and getting better day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month, year-by-year, decade-by-decade and on for life.
If you have been struggling with your fitness results, take a cue from today's transformation and get your plan and Go!
-Nate
Fit for LIFE and Business at 55!
Busy Entrepreneur Belinda takes back her life at age 55
It’s hard for me to put together today’s transformation story without tears welling up in my eyes. This one really gets me because I had the chance to work with Belinda
in person here in Kansas City. This busy and successful entrepreneur had put herself and her health in last place for a long time. After a serious health scare, and with her 55th birthday coming up, she realized if she didn’t make some changes, she may not be around to even run her business. I knew Belinda was ready for change on her first day at the gym. As confident as this woman was in business though, she wasn’t confident in what she was physically capable of achieving. Yes, we had some physical obstacles and challenges to work around, but rather than focusing on the things that she couldn’t do, we focused on all the things that she CAN do. And guess what, that was a LOT. Initially, we set a modest goal of losing 20 pounds of body fat. This goal wasn’t about trying to look better (although that’s a side effect!), it was about getting her body and health to a better place. It was about helping her become stronger and to have more energy to function through her busy days. We also changed up her nutrition to get it in alignment with the fat loss goals. Belinda gave 110% with every session, and on her time outside the gym, she committed to changing her eating habits, and started doing the cardio that she was able to do. It didn’t take long to start seeing changes in her, and I don’t just mean physically. Within just a couple of weeks, Belinda had a sparkle in her eye. You could tell that she was beginning to believe in herself and her capability to achieve these new goals. As she got stronger on the outside, she became stronger on the inside too. She surpassed the 12 week goals that we set in just 8 weeks, so we just kept right on going! Rather than a 20 pound loss, she ended with a 36.5 pound loss, and nearly cut her body fat in half.
What was even greater than the scale losses was the day she let me know her doctor was taking her off her high blood pressure medication. Just amazing!! And then, the day she came to the gym and let me know she was going to do her first triathalon! Well, she did it. This past weekend on September 10, 2016, Micah and I were able to go out and watch her achieve this incredible goal. To see that smiling face cross the finish line was just beyond words. This new woman is not the same one who sat with me in an office back in April filled with doubts of if she would be successful. This new Belinda is a woman who KNOWS she will succeed at whatever she sets her mind to, she’s not afraid to go for it, and I can’t wait to see what she achieves next!!
Congratulations Belinda! I am just beyond proud of you. What a blessing it has been to be a part of this incredible journey with you. I can’t wait to see you continue to succeed with every goal that you set!
Belinda’s Stats:
Starting weight: 178.4
Ending weight: 141.9
Starting body fat: 33.3%
Ending body fat: 18.4%
Inches lost at waist: 7.5
Inches lost at hips: 4.5
Belinda’s Story:
“When Health Takes a Back Seat to Business”
Back in November, 2015, I woke up one morning and honestly thought I was having a heart attack. My arms hurt, my heart was beating out of my chest, my eyes were puffy and swollen, and my head hurt. I took myself right away to see the doctor who informed me that both my blood pressure and resting heart rate were off the charts. I’d never had high blood pressure before, in fact it had always been low, and the racing heart rate was new too. He told me if I kept it up, I was a stroke waiting to happen. He got my attention – in trying to grow my business, I was actually killing myself.
I started on blood pressure meds which got things sort of under control, and confronted by shortening my life, decided I was going to whip myself into shape – no more excuses. The biggest excuse after running a business for 6 years at that point was that I simply didn’t have time.
At this pivotal moment, I realized that I didn’t have time not to.
I cut out all the things that were bad for me – salt, sugar, caffeine (oh yes, typical entrepreneur – would drink a pot of coffee in the morning, then switch to (a lot of) diet Coke in the afternoon), started to limit my lunch-time take-out habit (because I didn’t have time to plan, right?) and got up and walked every morning. I managed to lose 20lbs, but it took me 5 months, and I still didn’t feel good, or look well, and my heart rate and blood pressure were still nowhere close to where they needed to be.
A client nagged – I mean really nagged – and told me I needed to get in shape. When I say nagged, I mean that he cared enough about what was happening to me to help me see the light. Some time at the end of March, 2016, after going it alone for a bit, I decided that with a 55
th Birthday coming up, I owed it to myself, to my family, and to my business family to make time to work on me – to be the best 55 year old I could be. So, after emailing Diana and telling her all my tales of woe, on April 19, 2016, I started my journey with
Hitch Fit. I had a long way to go, but signed up for
personal training with Diana and got to work. During the first meeting after weighing and measuring I was confronted with the terrible truth – that despite my efforts in previous months I was seriously overweight, body fat way up there, and had some pretty serious things to overcome like chronic arthritis and being so out of shape that just walking on a treadmill for a few minutes winded me. The phrase “hot mess” comes to mind.
Diana told me that she thought I could get my body fat down to 25%, and lose 20lbs. Being the independent one that I am, I let her know that I really didn’t think that was going to be possible in 12 weeks, but sure, if she felt I could then why not? I doubted myself – I was committed to making a difference in my own life – but I doubted myself.
And off we went. The first month was great, my strength started to increase, for the first time in my life I learned how to eat properly. Exercise became something I looked forward to and started competing against myself to try to improve. By the second month, I had met my first set of goals – so we set more. At the end of 12 weeks, I still felt that we had a way to go to being the best 55 year old I could be. I suddenly became addicted to fitness – and here I was, the business owner voted least likely to succeed in fitness before I met everyone at Hitch Fit. I kept going, adding 5 weeks to the transformation piece, and am thrilled with the results. I dropped 36.4 lbs and got the body fat to about 18.5%, and lost inches all over in the time I was with Hitch Fit – but that wasn’t the best part for me.
Everyone has different results, the one I’m proudest of isn’t the weight, or the reduction in body fat. The one I’m proudest of is that at age 55, I feel fit, healthy and feel like I could take on the world. I’m off blood pressure medication, I’ve continued to work with a trainer because I love it, I’ve increased my endurance in walking (can’t run because of my arthritis, but can walk REALLY fast), have taken up cycling, and am now taking swimming lessons. On September 10, 2016, I successfully completed a Triathlon – my first – and I couldn’t have even thought about doing that 6 months ago. I’m stronger, eat better than I ever have, can do things would never have been able to do and feel better than I have in years. The physical by-products are nice-to-haves, but what’s on the inside is so much more important.
If you’re thinking about taking on this journey yourself, I challenge you – what are you waiting for? Now I know what it’s done for me, I only wish I had found them sooner. My absolute heartfelt thanks go to Diana and Micah, and now Kevin in OP gets to put up with me. Hitch Fit changed my life. In fact, Hitch Fit gave me back my life and for that I am truly thankful.”
If you are in the Kansas City area and interested in one on one
personal training with Diana Chaloux – LaCerte contact her at Diana.Chaloux@yahoo.com for rates and availability.
Or check out our Online Personal Training programs available globally.
The online personal training plan version of what Belinda did is the Hitch Fit
Lose Weight Feel Great Program
